One thing leads to another: Treatment’s side effect causes arrhythmia

Ericka Howard-Foskey

Contributed photo

By Rip Taggart, Special to the Sun Journal

Published: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 11:01 AM.

On a beautiful morning last May, Ericka Howard-Foskey felt lucky to be alive. Eight months earlier, she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Following 12 weeks of arsenic-based chemotherapy at
Vidant
Medical
Center
, this athletic young mother of two was back on her bike training for the Bike MS
150 in
August. And this morning, she and her husband Finell were riding together for the first time, talking back and forth as they pedaled out of their subdivision.

Thirty-six hours later, Ericka regained consciousness at
Vidant
Medical
Center
, her husband by her side. When Finell explained how she got there, Ericka couldn’t believe it at first. It’s still hard for her to believe now.

As they rode out of the subdivision, Ericka lost consciousness and appeared to be having a seizure. As Finell rushed to her, a teenage neighbor dialed 911. Finell took the phone and told the dispatcher what was happening. Their friend Kenny, an off-duty
EMS
technician, heard the 911 dispatch call and was there in three minutes, not knowing who it was. Ericka’s heart had stopped beating. Both Kenny and Finell administered CPR until the ambulance arrived two minutes later. Those
EMS
specialists used a defibrillator to restart Ericka’s heart, and rushed her to the CarolinaEast emergency room.

Because of Ericka’s previous medical history, it was decided to airlift her to
Vidant
Medical
Center
in
Greenville
where she was placed in a medically induced coma. Doctors there used a special machine to lower her body temperature, keeping her heart and brain from swelling while they watched for signs of brain activity. Finell and their two children spent two sleepless nights praying that Ericka wasn’t brain dead. As he pulled into Vidant’s parking lot the next morning, Finell received a call from the nurse. They had turned off the machine.

As she slowly began to regain consciousness, Ericka’s body had started to fight the machine, so the doctors turned it off six hours ahead of schedule. Twenty minutes later, with her husband at her side, Ericka opened her eyes and asked where she was and if her bike was OK.

The bike was fine, but the arsenic used for successful treatment of Ericka’s leukemia had also caused heart arrhythmia. During arrhythmia, the heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or irregularly because of a problem with the heart’s own electrical system. Most are harmless, but arrhythmias like Ericka’s can be life-threatening.

On a beautiful morning last May, Ericka Howard-Foskey felt lucky to be alive. Eight months earlier, she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Following 12 weeks of arsenic-based chemotherapy at VidantMedicalCenter, this athletic young mother of two was back on her bike training for the Bike MS 150 in August. And this morning, she and her husband Finell were riding together for the first time, talking back and forth as they pedaled out of their subdivision.

Thirty-six hours later, Ericka regained consciousness at VidantMedicalCenter, her husband by her side. When Finell explained how she got there, Ericka couldn’t believe it at first. It’s still hard for her to believe now.

As they rode out of the subdivision, Ericka lost consciousness and appeared to be having a seizure. As Finell rushed to her, a teenage neighbor dialed 911. Finell took the phone and told the dispatcher what was happening. Their friend Kenny, an off-duty EMS technician, heard the 911 dispatch call and was there in three minutes, not knowing who it was. Ericka’s heart had stopped beating. Both Kenny and Finell administered CPR until the ambulance arrived two minutes later. Those EMS specialists used a defibrillator to restart Ericka’s heart, and rushed her to the CarolinaEast emergency room.

Because of Ericka’s previous medical history, it was decided to airlift her to VidantMedicalCenter in Greenville where she was placed in a medically induced coma. Doctors there used a special machine to lower her body temperature, keeping her heart and brain from swelling while they watched for signs of brain activity. Finell and their two children spent two sleepless nights praying that Ericka wasn’t brain dead. As he pulled into Vidant’s parking lot the next morning, Finell received a call from the nurse. They had turned off the machine.

As she slowly began to regain consciousness, Ericka’s body had started to fight the machine, so the doctors turned it off six hours ahead of schedule. Twenty minutes later, with her husband at her side, Ericka opened her eyes and asked where she was and if her bike was OK.

The bike was fine, but the arsenic used for successful treatment of Ericka’s leukemia had also caused heart arrhythmia. During arrhythmia, the heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or irregularly because of a problem with the heart’s own electrical system. Most are harmless, but arrhythmias like Ericka’s can be life-threatening.

To control her arrhythmias, Ericka’s doctors placed an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in her chest that constantly monitors her heart. “They told me it’s like a pacemaker on steroids,” she recalls. “If my heart needed it, it would shock me just like an external defibrillator. It took a while for me to get used to the fact that I have something that reminds me of Iron Man implanted in my chest.”

Nine months later, Ericka is back on her bike again. She credits her physical and mental recovery to the support she’s received from the team in her local cardiac rehabilitation program, and from an online therapy group for patients with ICDs.

Ericka knows how miraculous her journey has been over the last two years, and she is deeply grateful to every single person who has helped her along the way. “If they hadn’t responded in the first five minutes, I probably wouldn’t be here,” she says. “All the doctors and the nurses, all the workers in the hospital, my cardiologist, my oncologist … all the rest of the ‘-ologists’ that were involved in my journey. I just want to say thank you for all your hard work and your dedication.”

February is American Heart Month, and Ericka is sharing her story as part of a public awareness effort leading up to New Bern’s Heart Ball on Feb. 23. This year’s event is this Saturday at the N.C.HistoryCenter, where you can meet Ericka and others who are sharing their Stories from the Heart.

Ericka’s story and others are also being featured on the newbernheartball.org website and on the Heart Ball Facebook page. If you’re interested in sharing a story from your heart, please visit the Heart Ball website or Facebook page, or send an email to Rip Taggart at rip@rndsupport.com.